I started writing to earn passive income. Robert Kiyosaki said that we can create an asset from our mind, and the first thing that came to me was a book. So, here I am today.
Over four years of writing, I have learned a lot about different platforms and programs. Two programs I use every day are Kindle Unlimited on Amazon and Draft2Digital.
If you plan on becoming a hardcore writer, you should understand these options because you cannot use them together. They both open your writing to different audiences and spaces. Let’s begin.
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The magic of ebooks. I love writing ebooks because there are no barriers to entry. Anyone who can use Google Docs or Microsoft Word can release an ebook.
That being said, a low barrier to entry means tons of competition. How do you stand out in a world with millions and millions of ebooks?
The importance of Kindle Unlimited. The Kindle Unlimited program allows readers who pay a subscription fee to read your book at no additional cost. You earn a small amount of cash per page read (less than half a penny).
It’s important to note that Kindle Unlimited only applies to ebooks, not paperbacks and hardcovers—this distinction will be essential later.
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The magic of Kindle Unlimited is the free book program. Every 90 days, you can set the price of your ebook to “free” for five days.
Amazon also boosts your book for the first 30 days of release. When you combine this with a free promotion, you get great results.
The free book program is vital to keeping your books “top of mind.” It is easy to lose your book in the vast ocean of books on Amazon. Therefore, having multiple free books each month is critical to success on Amazon.
I set my goal early on to release a different free book on Amazon every day. For this to happen, I need at least 365 books. Well, today, I have 657 books and counting. My total sales on Amazon are $4,652. Of those sales, $510 comes from Kindle Unlimited.
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Every month, I release a Free Kindle Book Schedule on my blog. This gives my readers a chance to try to collect them all. It’ll be tough because I release one on Kindle Unlimited every other day.
As far as monetization, the money from Kindle Unlimited is tiny. However, the program works much better for fiction writers in the romance and mystery genres.
However, I attribute Kindle Unlimited to most of my ebook and paperback sales. Again, my books would be “lost in the sauce” without the free book promotions.
The importance of Draft2Digital. I was 100% all-in on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited when I started. Then, one day in 2021, they accidentally booted me completely off the platform.
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After that day, I said I would never depend solely on one program or entity again. That was the day I started releasing Free PDFs to the world via my blog.
After releasing about 100 Free PDFs, I decided to upload the manuscripts and book covers to Draft2Digital. Since I was already doing all the work to release a book, I may as well give it an opportunity to earn some passive income.
To be clear, I release every single book or PDF on Amazon as an ebook and paperback. The only difference is if I check the “Kindle Unlimited” box or not. If I do not check the box, I can release the book on Draft2Digital and as a Free PDF.
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Draft2Digital acts as a conglomerate of multiple bookstores. You upload all of the data for your book once, and Draft2Digital releases it through its partners, including Apple Books, Amazon, and Google.
I do not release my book via Google, Kobo, or Apple Books because they do not allow links to my blog in my writing. I do not like that, so I unchecked those vendors.
I didn’t earn any money on Draft2Digital for the first six months, then I received $3 in January 2022. Since then, it has been a very consistent upward ride. Last month (July 2024), I earned $64. I have 470 books on Draft2Digital.
I don’t do any work outside of the five minutes it takes me to upload my manuscript. All the sales are completely organic. I am sure I could make much more money if I tried advertising or content marketing.
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Why do I use both? The key to my daily book program is that I can release every single book on Amazon, the world’s largest bookstore. 50% of my ebooks are in the Kindle Unlimited program, and I release the others on my blog and Draft2Digital.
The free book program still brings attention to my ebooks and paperbacks on Amazon that are not in the Kindle Unlimited program.
Think of Kindle Unlimited as free advertising to your back catalog. Once people find you for free, they may purchase or read more of your stuff.
Draft2Digital is good because it works with libraries. If you are consistent, your reach will grow through the libraries.
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Most of my sales come from libraries under the Draft2Digital banner. There are also some international sales. Again, these sales are 100% organic.
Sometimes, Draft2Digital offers to reduce the price of all your books for a summer or Christmas sale—good times to generate more revenue.
Amazon doesn’t have a program to “mass reduce” the price of your books for a sale; that would be nice for Prime Day or Black Friday. With 650+ books on Amazon, it would be too much work for me to handle these sale prices.
- The Publishing Chronicles 1: Write a Book in One Week
- The Publishing Chronicles 2: Design Your Own Book Covers
- The Publishing Chronicles 3: Publish to the World
- The Publishing Chronicles 4: Advertise Your Own Books
- The Publishing Chronicles 4: My Lightweight Workflow
My overall goal. My overall goal is to be a writer who earns passive income. Honestly, I write because it is the most challenging thing I do every day.
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I love creating an asset every morning and putting it into the world via different platforms. I plan to one day generate $1,000 monthly from my writing (currently around $250-$300).
Regarding Kindle Unlimited vs. Draft2Digital, I would focus on Kindle Unlimited first. If you release 12 books yearly, I would put 10 in the Kindle Unlimited program and two on Draft2Digital.
I would keep this allocation until the sales tell you something different. Amazon is simply too big to ignore. However, you don’t want to put all of your eggs in one basket.
If something happens to your Amazon account, you want to have your foot in the door on Draft2Digital. You can actually build an audience on Draft2Digital.
If you have to migrate your books from Amazon to Draft2Digital, it would be much faster if you already have a small built-in audience.
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Conclusion. Amazon is the largest book retailer in the world; you cannot avoid this fact. I have a 50% split between Kindle Unlimited and Draft2Digital.
That’s because I already have 650+ books on Kindle Unlimited; I don’t truly need any more. I can release a different free book on Amazon for two straight years.
My Draft2Digital sales will one day eclipse my Amazon sales. Getting organic traffic on Amazon is super tough if you do not have a mailing list or tons of reviews.
Draft2Digital has much better organic growth. However, you need to keep writing to build an audience. You cannot just release two books and sit back and wait; you must grind.
Ultimately, you can drive sales to whichever platform you want. Kindle Unlimited is a form of advertising, while Draft2Digital has organic growth. The best option is to figure out how to use both for growth and reach. Good Luck!
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